Lawmakers have work to do

The Legislature is gearing up to spend our money this week, so I thought I’d review some of the ways they plan to spend it.

First, they are planning to increase wages and funding for the courts. As a lawyer, I can see the need. I’m not going to argue about why the court system is so busy and overworked, because there is another approach to solving that problem. Let’s just admit there is a problem, and increased funding will certainly help. The Legislature will increase salaries for court staff, increase budgets and will allocate funds to pay judge’s clerks better.

I’m all in favor of paying decent wages to the clerks. They do the brunt of the legal work at the courthouse. It’s a critical job that we rely on to make sure judges make well-informed decisions based on the law and not on their personal preferences, thus keeping our judicial system fair and unbiased. Often, clerking is a lawyer’s first job, and not only are they often eager to learn from the judges, they often have excellent academic credentials. We all know these clerks move on after a few years, but paying them adequately keeps the standards high, which is good for justice.

The same is true for public defenders. While prosecution of crimes is usually paid for by counties and cities, the people accused of crimes are on their own unless they qualify for public defenders. The balance between prosecution and defense is delicate and critical: one of the reasons our criminal justice system works so well is that both sides keep the other side honest. That equals justice for all. It’s money well spent.

Speaking of criminals, there’s an effort to add some new criminal laws to the books. One, in particular, I hope to see pass — something called “organized retail theft.” You would think this is already illegal, and it is. But increased penalties are necessary. Like many bizarre things, this crime spree started in California. Groups of criminals will swarm a store, stealing what they can and overwhelming the staff, leaving with merchandise which is either resold or returned for gift cards. It’s brazen, and it’s becoming more widespread. The new law gives more tools and penalties for such organized crime.

The legislature is also trying to pass a law restricting non-compete clauses in employment contracts. Such non-competes used to have a real purpose, like keeping a salesperson from quitting and going to work for the competition, taking all their former employer’s secrets with them. But non-competes have grown to be included in so many jobs where they aren’t necessary, like with fast food workers. Imagine flipping burgers at McDonald’s and then moving over to the Burger King across the street, only to suddenly find you agreed to a non-compete in all those papers you signed when you got hired at McDonald’s. Such abuse by employers may have ruined it for everyone, because non-competes may soon become non-enforceable due to the scrutiny they are drawing. It’s an appropriate response by the legislature, I think.

Minnesota workers would also have greater protection from wage theft and overtime violations, if the labor bill passes as is. This is another problem that has become bigger over the years. Some employers have found ways to avoid paying wages as promised, from requiring people to clock-in early, to limiting overtime to a set amount even if the worker actually works longer than that. The law would give employees an easier way to enforce their rights, especially in the construction industry where the problem has grown significantly. It’s not a huge problem around here yet, and we hope that with the new changes in the law, it never will be.

There’s a lot more, too. When 201 politicians get together for five months to make the rules that govern us all, you can imagine the volume of things they can come up with.

Pete Radosevich is the publisher of the Pine Knot News community newspaper and an attorney in Esko who hosts the cable access talk show Harry’s Gang on CAT-7. His opinions are his own. Contact him at [email protected].